2 new towers for Young Circle: Crucial or calamity?

April 7, 2012|By Tonya Alanez, Sun Sentinel

HOLLYWOOD — Will the addition of two mixed-use high rises on Young Circle be a shot in the arm for the struggling downtown or towering intrusions?

The recently approved projects – the 26-story Hollywood Circle and 19-story Young Circle Commons -- will add more than 600 apartments to the city center, along with a boutique hotel, office and retail space and an eagerly anticipated grocery store.

Business owners say bring it on, while those who live nearby have differing opinions.

Sharon Bodden, who lives within walking distance of downtown, says she is looking forward to the ground-floor retail and commercial space.

"I think downtown already has great clubs, bars and restaurants but to have retail downtown would be transformational, something that can compete with Lincoln Road or Gulfstream, a destination," she said.

To Connie Mayer, an eight-year Hollywood resident, it sounds like a whole lot of unwelcome congestion.

"Where are they going to put all the people, where are they going to park? As a resident, that's my first concern," she said. "Will they all be making a beeline for I-95 in the morning?"

Still, she is happy to get a new grocery store because "we desperately need a better Publix."

Terry Cantrell, president of the nearby Lakes Neighborhood Association, said the 26-story project is too imposing.

"We want something on the circle, we want that property to be improved," Cantrell said of the corner that's now a shabbily fenced vacant lot, a Papa Johns' pizza shop and the dilapidated 12-story Townhouse Apartment complex. "But this particular design we have never embraced -- too big, too tall, too much density and it has an inadequate plan to move cars in and out."

Rob Snyder, owner of Vizcaya Valet, disagrees. He said the addition of so many new people to the area is "wonderful. It's going to change the whole dynamic of downtown, no doubt."

"We don't have anything here. We have $9.99 shoes, we need something more," Sorica said. "You can find good food always, but you need something else. You need something to make people spend their time and money."

Developer Mo Abbas expects to start building the $150 million Hollywood Circle by year's end. It will be situated on the northeastern arc of Young Circle and will include 397 apartments, a 104-room boutique hotel and the 48,000 square foot grocery store.

It's all about creating "critical mass" for a struggling downtown, he said.

Next up will be the $80 million Young Circle Common, site of the 1920s-era Great Southern Hotel, which will include 229 apartments, retail and office space.

Nanette Swieckowski, a Hollywood resident since 1995, said she never welcomes news of new high rises: "They're going to take a pleasant place to live and overcrowd it and force people to find a better place."